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In 2009, the Royal Society of Chemistry signed a cooperation agreement with the State Administration for Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA), a division of the Chinese Government. As part of a wider governmental initiative to enhance the global impact of Chinese science and China’s higher education institutions, the RSC and SAFEA provide funding for a Visiting Researchers Programme. This encourages academics from the UK to visit Chinese universities to share best practice, advise Chinese researchers on presenting their research to an international audience and to stimulate collaboration between UK and Chinese institutions.

This blog provides a space for participants to share their experiences and for the RSC to highlight the opportunities that stem from the SAFEA programme.

*The map is reproduced from the United Nations Statistics Division

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Dr Eli Zysman-Colman visited China at the beginning of November as part of the 2015 SAFEA-RSC visiting researchers programme. He went to Hong Kong to visit some of his contacts, followed by a visit to Sun-Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou and Nanjing Technological University in Nanjing where Sun-Yat-Sen mausoleum is found. He also managed to squeeze a quick hello to his postdoctoral supervisor, Prof Jay Siegel in Tianjin University. "This was my first trip to China and it exceeded all of my expectations....I saw some great chemistry and met many new colleagues, some of whom I hope will become collaborators and friends.", says Eli Zysman-Colman. Snippets of his trip diary can be read here.

Professor Paul Kong Thoo Lin is currently based at Robert Gordon Unviersity in Aberdeen and was one of the 2015 recipients of the SAFEA-RSC visiting researcher programme. These are brief snippets from Paul's trip diary during his sponsored visit to China. His main visit was to Prof Chaojie Wang at Henan University. Paul also managed to attend the 3rd Roche and RSC Chemistry Symposium on leading science for drug discovery and gave talks in Shanghai at the Roche Innovation Centre Shanghai and East China University of Science and Technology.
Professor Paul Kong Thoo Lin

Brian Cox, Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK, visited Fudan University in Shanghai in October 2015 as part of the 2015 SAFEA-RSC visiting researchers programme. He also had the opportunity to visit Roche Innovation Center Shanghai and attended the 3rd Roche and RSC Chemistry symposium on leading science for drug discovery. A news story was also published on the Fudan University webpage.

The State Administration for Foreign Experts Affairs (SAFEA) is a division of the Chinese Government with which RSC has a cooperation agreement. Under this agreement the RSC and SAFEA will jointly fund researchers from the UK to visit Chinese Universities. The purpose of the visits is to stimulate collaboration between UK and Chinese institutions. They will allow the visitor to contribute their experience towards the development of excellent emerging science and build links with the Chinese Chemistry community.

In addition, the visitor will advise Chinese research groups on all aspects of presenting their research to an international audience. The programme will strengthen links between the UK and Chinese Science and between the RSC and our partners in China.

We would be very grateful if you could please send us the following information as part of your application:
• Detailed CV containing your career progress
• A letter detailing your objectives and what you hope to achieve in China
• Current research interests, especially areas where you wish to collaborate
• List of current collaborators in China (If any)
• List of your current and past publications
• Preferred dates to travel to China

Call for applications are open until the 21st September 2015 for RSC members based in the UK and Ireland. Visit usually lasts up to a week. The Royal Society of Chemistry covers up to £1200 for international flights and visa and local costs are usually covered by the local Chinese host universities. Prior collaboration in China is not necessary because SAFEA and the RSC will work together to find appropriate Chinese University hosts. Please email: international@rsc.org to send your application for this programme.

Malcolm Halcrow, currently Professor at the University of Leeds, was one of the recipients of the 2015 SAFEA-RSC visiting researchers travel grants. He spent 12 days in China travelling to 3 cities. Below is a summary of his trip diary.
May 10-18: Xiamen University (hosted by Professor Jun Tao)
May 18-20: Sun-Yat Sen University (hosted by Professor Ming-Liang Tong)
May 20-22: Jiaxing University (hosted Professor Xiaoming Liu)